Judges not convinced: Tirosh will be required to hand over documents for Netanyahu's defense

The Jerusalem District Court ordered the prosecution to transfer additional documents to Netanyahu's defense regarding Mandelblit's approvals to open investigations. The judges ruled that the importance of the materials outweighs considerations against exposing internal discussions. The decision comes after a sharp confrontation in the hearing where attorney Hadad claimed the prosecution is choosing which documents to disclose.

The Jerusalem District Court today (Sunday) ordered the prosecution to transfer to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's defense a series of additional documents concerning approvals given by former Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit to open investigations against Netanyahu. The decision was made after the continuation of Mandelblit's testimony was delayed due to the non-delivery of the materials, and following a sharp confrontation in the hearing last Wednesday between the defense attorneys and prosecution representatives. The judges ruled that the importance of the materials for clarifying the disputes in the trial outweighs the considerations against exposing internal discussions. One of the prominent details in the quoted sections of the materials concerns Case 4000 and state witness Shlomo Filber, where the possibility arose that Filber acted according to the "spirit of the commander" – Netanyahu. Additional sections include the phrase "there is here power-money" in reference to Cases 1000 and 2000, and a reference to "hundreds of thousands of shekels" in Case 1000. The defense claims that the prosecution is not transferring all relevant documentation, but is choosing for itself which documents to disclose. Attorney Amit Hadad attacked: "You can't cherry-pick, you sit on a mountain of material and decide this we'll reveal, that we won't." Judge Oded Shaham intervened and inquired whether the prosecution had transferred all relevant protocols. Prosecutor Yehudit Tirosh admitted that she had not personally checked the materials concerning Cases 1000 and 2000. The new decision may allow the defense to confront Mandelblit with the documentation created in real time.